Washington County, along with about 20 other Minnesota counties, announced civil action against major pharmaceutical companies Nov. 30 for the sale and manufacture of opioid drugs.

The counties will file separate lawsuits, but Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said they are all working in conjunction to launch the suits. Prosecutors say the lawsuits are a response to the rise in opioid abuse and an attempt to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for their products and marketing.

"(There) will be more civil lawsuits to come as the weeks and month progress throughout the state of Minnesota around the issue of holding accountable the manufacturers and distributors of opiate pain medication for their role in what we are dealing with," Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.

Orput said some of the suits will be filed in the state and others may be filed in federal court.

"Each of our suits are similar in that we've had enough of the fraudulent marketing and negligent distribution of opioids and all of us have been struggling with the devastating effects they have on our communities, and all of this has been done in the name of outrageous profits," he said.

The claim rests in part on what Orput called "fraudulent" marketing.

"(A manufacturer's) marketing claims must be supported by science, and that hasn't happened. The defendants broke those simple rules," Orput said.

"I don't want their money; I want the justice," Orput added. "But I'll take their money, because we have a huge problem and we need to fix it."

Services needed to treat the effects of opioids, including social and health and human services, used often rest in county control, which leads to significant costs to the county and taxpayers, official said.

"Washington County is just as much at risk as any other community," Washington County Board Chair Lisa Weik said.

There were 11 opioid overdose deaths in Washington County in 2016, and there have been 99 since 2000. Nearly 7 percent of Washington County students reported in the Minnesota Student Survey that they had used prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them in the last month.

Dakota County Commissioner Mike Slavik said the county seems to be moving in the direction of filing a complaint but they will vote on Dec. 12.

Slavik and Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom were at the news conference.

"We must hold these corporate schlockmeisters responsible for their rapacious profiteering that has directly contributed to deaths, family break-ups, hospitalizations and addiction," Orput said. "The manufacturers and distributors caused this epidemic and we're asking that it stop."

Minnesota is not the only state to file against pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids, including several Wisconsin counties.

Washington County is using Minneapolis law firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen.